This text was read by OCR from a scanned newsletter and has not been proofread yet, so expect odd characters and mistakes.
None of the members of the Medium trip to Mt Taranaki and Lake Dive had expected to see a gracefully soaring sooty albatross during our trip. Just as well, because Prakash, arms wide-flung and crampons clanging, had only the colour of the bird and not one ounce of its grace as he half-stumbled, half-flapped his way down the snowy slopes of the mountain.
Our trip, comprising Lyndsay, Jo, Dave, Andrew, John, Sandy, Prak, and I, had enjoyed a leisurely lunch on Fanthams Peak. As we ate lunch, Ruapehu (200 kilometres away) literally blew its stack, sending a cloud of ash and steam up to 7,000 metres above the crater. Everyone else cheered when Jo suggested that she had seen Allan
By Ash
MacLachlan’s hat heading skyward; not me though! I’m applying to join the Club and I think Allan is a fantastic human being! Anyway, enough sliming! There are plenty of equally amazing committee members to take his place.
So, back to the trip. Awesome. Most of us were there for the scenery and there was loads of it. The forest, the mountain, all those “easy” ladies at Lake Dive Hut - what a trip. (Until that is, I found out “easy” is not related to morals!)
Dave and Andy can cook, Jo's dessert was SCRUMMY, John was a dab-hand at the dishes, and Prak actually gave some good advice on snow techniques I should have listened to. Sandy kept the sleeping quarters warmed by having stearning hot cups of percolated coffee delivered to her, and I helped by being very quiet and simply listening and observing - the perfect pupil, unobtrusive and helpful (please note in reference to my membership application).
Lyndsay, that wise but now departed sage of the woods has an amount of knowledge that many others aspire to. This was his swan song (or perhaps sooty albatross song) and, based on what I saw of him, that’s a pity.
Great trip, great people; thanks for the company.